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Take Five - Brandon Hall

Published July 2008

E-Learning for Multiple Generations

  

  Brandon Hall

Different generations have different traits. Research tells us that there are differences in how people learn based on when they were born. Here are five strategies for designing e-learning to address multiple generations in the workforce:

1. Target training for different preferences.
Sean Stearley at Aetna said the company’s training strategy leverages the “upward compatibility” of generational groups. “We target our training techniques at the largest and youngest generation represented. When there is no clear single majority, we focus on the learning styles preferred by the younger generation. “For example, in our customer-service organizations, the bulk of our personnel is either Generation X (born 1965-1979) or Y (born 1980-1994), so we always target our training at Generation Y. Generation X will consider themselves savvy and progressive enough to adapt. We make sure that appropriate training options exist for each generational group. Sometimes that means providing different options for different learners in one course, and sometimes it means building separate courses for the different learning audiences.”

2. Use Web 2.0 learning activities.
Dru Ryan, manager of technology training and learning resources at Montgomery College, uses gaming in classes. “We pre-configure the desktop of the computer in our training labs with mini-games, which allow for an impromptu learning moment. We find students would rather play a game that was created for them versus browsing the Web. “Primarily, class participants enjoy the self-directed learning before and after class or during the breaks. While the games are targeted to all staff, usage is dominated by younger workers. With a generational classroom, we try to target the middle. As the middle changes, our target also changes.”

3. Design for continuous learning.
Dave Goodman, principal at SoftAssist, noted that some people automatically gravitate to the technology questions when they first think about generational learning. “Technology is only one facet of the solution. The real issues come within the instructional design parameters. How can the learning capture the attention, keep the attention and motivate the learning process for each learner? That’s where the challenge kicks in. As well, generational learning design must address post-environmental learning design issues. Some people think that when you walk out of the classroom or finish the online course that the training is complete. Today’s generation of learners fully expect that the adventure continues in the blogs, YouTube, ARGs, etc., and that they as the learner will help create the outcomes. Today’s learners are enmeshed in the social network of the ‘us’ and the ‘we.’ Understanding the full dimensions and implications of ‘us’ will be the greatest challenge to the instructional designers.”

Comments

Posted By Connie Twynham Thursday July 10, 2008 08:33:26 AM Multiple Generations and Mobile workforces. Mobile workers have IPODs and PDA's that they are more likely to use while sitting in a cab, on a plane, or waiting in an airport than a bulky laptop. We are used to searching, assembling, and customizing information, searching a variety of resources at once, and getting access to information anytime, anywhere. Yet we often still get static, fixed training and courseware that only the developers can change, and too much of the wrong information, or at the wrong time. Learning developers need to fit learning into the multiple generations of a mobile workforce. We expect ‘ambient findability’ – information that is accessible anytime, anywhere. We consume information without thinking about it, while doing other things. We are expert multitaskers and we have less time, shorter attention spans, and constant distractions. Training needs to be modularized and developed for smaller screens with varying resolutions and varying mobile device capabilities and downloadable.

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